Container



P. J. BROOKS Dec. 15, 1936.

CONTAINER Filed Feb. 15, 1936 Patented Dec. 15, 1936 UNITED STATESCONTAINER Paul J. Brooks, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor to The HankinsContainer Company, Cleveland, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Application February 15, 1936, Serial No. cease 2Claims. (Cl. 229-52) The present invention relates to containers andmore particularly to a container of basket form to be made from paperboard or similar material. Among the objects of the invent-ion are toprovide a basket which is sturdy in construction, quick to set up,requiring but a few fastening devices, and which provides reinforcedparts where added strength is most advantageous. Other objects willappear as the descrip- In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the basket; and Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe blank in unfolded condition.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the basket comprises a body member 5and handle 8 which latter may be of conventional form comprising a flatstrip of wood bent in to U-shape.

The body member 5 is preferably formed from a blank cut and scored toprovide a. bottom I with side walls 8, 8, and end walls 9, 9, hinged tothe bottom and defined therefrom by the score lines indicated. See Fig.2.

The side walls in the set-up form of the basket are preferably of atleast double thickness substantially throughout and for this purposeside wall extension flaps H3, H! are preferably provided which areadapted to be bent down against the inner faces of the side walls whenthe basket is set up. Openings or recesses it, it are provided in theside wall extension flaps to receive the free ends of handle 6 which ispreferably of material having a thickness not greater than the thicknessof the basket material, particularly the flaps l0, l0, whereby theinterior surface of the handle will not project beyond the plane of theinner faces of the adjacent fiap portions ill, [0, thus providing arelatively smooth interior for the hasket. The handle ends are merelyplaced within the openings H, H, see Fig. 1, and secured to the sidewalls 8, 8 by securing means such as staples l2, 12. It is to be notedthat, in placing the handle ends within the openings H, H, the handleends do not have to be inserted endwise but may be by lateral movementsince the openings H, H are entirely unobstructed on the interior of thebasket. The handle ends are preferably entirely independent of the flapextensions, as the openings H, H merely permit the handle to fitdirectly against the inner side of side walls 8, 8. v

The end walls 9, 9, and the flap extensions ll, ill preferably carry endflaps thereon indicated at [3, t3 and I, M respectively. Flaps l3, l3are first folded against the side walls 8 when the walls 8 and 9 arebrought to upright position, then flap extensions I0, in are foldedthereover. This retains the walls 9, 9 securely in upright position. Theflaps l4, H are folded to lie against the adjacent end wall 9 and arepreferably of such a length as to meet at the central part of the endwall. The presence of the flaps l3, (3 in between the side walls 8 andextension flaps III will make a. triple thickness of the basket wallalong the portion of the side walls adjacent the ends of the basket.

Means are provided to retain the side wall flap extensions in fixedposition against the inner surfaces of the side walls. For this purposethere is preferably provided on each side wall flap extension anadditional flap extension l5, I5. These flap extensions are preferablyformed so that their outer edges engage each other along a linecentrally of the bottom of the basket. When the flaps i5, ii are in thisposition it is apparent that the lower edges ofthe wall extensions to,ill will be forced against the walls 8, 8, thus causing the entiresurface of the extensions to lie closely against their attached walls.

It is to be noted that the bottom, side and end walls are of multiplethickness throughout except at the points where the handle ends engagethe inner faces of the side walls. The handle ends do not howevermaterially prevent the formation of a smooth surface as they will lieeither substantially flush or slightly offset inwardly with respect tothe adjacent edges of flaps extensions Hi, I.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the present invention provides avery sturdy form of basket which can be set up ready for use by thesimple operation of folding the various parts together, no separatesecuring means being required other than for attachment of the handle tothe side walls. The basket is accordingly admirably adapted for usewhere it is desired to minimize the amount of equipment needed in makingthe baskets.

Due to the fact that the ends of the handle fit in recesses provided bythe openings H, II, neither the handle nor the fastening means to secureit to the side walls will project out substantially beyond the plane ofthe surface of the flap extensions [0, III. Danger of injury to fruitpacked within the basket by coming in contact with rough edges on theinterior of the basket is substantially eliminated. The provision ofdouble thickness and walls, side walls and bottom makes the basketparticularly strong and allows a large number of baskets to be placed ina pile, one upon the other, without danger of collapsing. The doublethickness: bottom is also advantageous in the handling of delicatefruits and vegetables which are susceptible to being bruised even withthe most careful handling. The juices escaping from such bruising will,in general, be absorbed by the inner layer of the bottom, thusmaintaining the bottom panel I free from moisture, whereby its strengthwill not be diminished. If, on the other hand, the bottom of the basketbecomes moistened by contact with water on the ground or floors, theinner bottom layer, formed by flaps l5, l5 will, generally, bemaintained in a dry condition, thus preserving the strength of thebasket.

While the present description sets forth a preferred embodiment of theinvention, numerous changes may be made in the construction withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention,

and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered inall respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had tothe appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicatethe scope of the invention.

I claim:-

1. A paperboard basket comprising a bottom, end walls and side walls,said side walls being of multiple thickness, the inner faces of the sidewalls having centrally thereof a vertically extending recess to receivethe ends of a basket handle, said recess being unobstructed along theinner face of the side wall whereby the ends of a basket handle may beintroduced laterally into the recess.

2. A paperboard basket, comprising a bottom, side and end walls, anextension flap on the upper edge of each side wall adapted to be bentdownwardly to lie against the inner face of the side wall to which it isattached, each of said side wall extension flaps having a recess formedcentrally thereof extending downwardly from the top of 'the extensionflap to receive the lower end portions of a handle, said recess in theside wall extension being unobstructed on the interior of the basketwhereby the lower end portions of the handle may be introduced laterallyinto the recess.

PAUL J. BROOKS.

